2024-03-20 13:17:39
The Government of Nicaragua accused the Government of Panama this Tuesday of violating the conventions on asylum by “not recognizing” the one granted to former President Ricardo Martinelli (2009 – 2024), granted asylum in the Nicaraguan Embassy in the Panamanian capital, and denying him the respective safe conduct to travel. .
“Not recognizing asylum and denying safe passage constitutes a violation of the Asylum Conventions, in particular Article 2, third provision, of the 1928 Asylum Convention,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, in a note sent to the Chancellery of Panama, and which is reproduced in Managua by the Sandinista radio station La Primerísima.
Managua argued that the 1928 Asylum Convention “clearly establishes that the Government of the State that grants asylum may demand that the asylum seeker be placed outside the national territory within the shortest possible time” and maintained that this obligation in strict accordance with the Convention that governs is “not fulfilled on the part of the Republic of Panama.”
Nicaragua sent that letter in response to another “note of protest” from the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, dated March 14 and released on Monday, March 18, due to the “permissive attitude” of the Government of Daniel Ortega at the Nicaraguan embassy in the Panamanian capital, where Martinelli would be seeking to influence politics.
Nicaragua thus reminded Panama that “political asylum must be respected as a humanitarian right, in accordance with the conventions that regulate it” and reiterated that “Martinelli’s asylum has been granted because he considers himself persecuted for political reasons and is in imminent risk.” his life, physical integrity and safety.
“Merely humanitarian issue”
And he reaffirmed his respect for international law and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other States: “The granting of asylum to Mr. Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal is a purely humanitarian matter and is consistent with international law in this matter,” he stated. Managua.
Former President Martinelli has been holed up in the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama since February 7, 2024 after being sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for money laundering, in the New Business case, which became final a week earlier (February 2 ). Panama denied him safe passage to travel to Nicaraguan soil.
Martinelli alleges that this sentence is political persecution to prevent him from participating in the elections on May 5 as a presidential candidate with his Realizing Goals party, founded in 2021, from which he is already disqualified and from which he started as the main favorite. according the surveys.
The former president, 72, thanked the president of Nicaragua for his “noble and selfless gesture” of granting him asylum, but the controversy surrounding Martinelli’s legal situation affected the general elections and strained diplomatic relations between both countries.
#Nicaragua #accuses #Panama #violating #asylum #conventions